


Himari goes to the beach with Afterglow

by Ash0605



Series: Kira Kira Writings Sparkling Summer Send Off [2]
Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Beaches, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Himari goes to the beach with Afterglow!!!!, Ice Cream, Tags Are Hard, They all say Hey Hey Hoh god i love Himari, Tsugumi's crushing on Sayo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25979740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash0605/pseuds/Ash0605
Summary: After 2 years of begging and failure, the triumphant day finally arrives. Victory is sweet, though not as sweet as the ice-cream she was planning to devour with her friends later.
Relationships: Aoba Moca/Mitake Ran, Udagawa Tomoe/Uehara Himari
Series: Kira Kira Writings Sparkling Summer Send Off [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880809
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Himari goes to the beach with Afterglow

Himari took a deep breath as she stepped onto the sand. People were strewn all over her field of view, laying on towels, building sandcastles, playing in the sea and eating ice-cream alongside countless other things. On a scorching hot day like this, the beach was bound to be packed. Himari appreciated the bustle and excitement of the crowd, but her vision was dominated by the golden sand, the untainted azure sky and the deep blue sea.

She turned to the friends behind her and pinched herself on the cheek. Her friends really were there, albeit with differing levels of enthusiasm. Moca was hunched over while looking at and stepping around Ran. Her attempts to be stealthy despite being in broad daylight were motivated by the fact that Ran wasn’t looking at her. It was typical Moca behavior to eye up and check out her girlfriend constantly, but it was obvious she was hoping to find refuge from the blazing heat thanks to her shadow. Ran locked eyes with Himari, wearing a look that could be interpreted in a number of ways, either “This place is packed, huh?”, “Why can’t Moca bother Tomoe?” and “Why is my girlfriend such an embarrassment?”. Tsugumi stood to the right of the pair, carrying the groups belongings with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Her nervousness was understandable considering how devoted she was to the preparations for the trip. Finally, Tomoe stood to the right of Tsugumi, stretching and basking in the sun before regarding Himari with a smile that made her heart flutter.

It wasn’t a dream. Her friends really were here. After 2 years of begging and failure, the triumphant day had finally arrived. Victory was sweet, but not as sweet as the ice cream she was planning to devour with her friends later.

“I’ve waiting for this for so long! Let’s have a great day at the beach!” Himari cheered. She thrust her hand into the air. “Hey Hey Hoh!”

“Hey Hey Hoh.” replied the group. There was a difference in enthusiasm between the members, but it was enough to almost bring Himari to tears regardless. She slapped her cheeks as she led the group in search of an empty spot to park their things; today was not a day for crying!

\----------

After helping to unpack their belongings, Himari wasted no time in making her way towards the sea. She originally wanted to start by trying to get a tan, but she decided that she couldn’t push back swimming in the sea. She could get a tan easily at a salon but going to the sea was much harder.

She waded into the water until she was waist deep, marveling at how good the warm water felt around her legs. She leaned forward and submerged the rest of her body, pushing through the water with her arms. She stopped and stood up quickly after the taste of salt touched her lips, the saltwater was the only thing she resented about the sea.

Glancing back at the shore, she sighed sadly at the fact that none of the other members had joined her. She knew that not everyone was as enthusiastic about it as she was, but it still hurt. She crossed her arms and huffed, but her expression softened as she saw a very attractive redhead wade into the water carrying a large yellow surfboard.

“Hey Himari! Sorry for taking so long!” Tomoe greeted, using her free hand to give her an enthusiastic wave.

“You’re surfing already!” Himari exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Tomoe replied happily. “I had a natural aptitude for surfing when I last did it at Toconut park, and I’ve been really looking forward to doing it again!”

“I’m wondering if that ability will hold up here too. Where do you think is the best place I go can go to watch you?” Himari stepped back instinctively, presuming that it would be best to return to the shore.

“On the surfboard with me!” Tomoe gestured to the board with her free hand. Himari reacted with shock at first, but then narrowed her eyes at the board. It seemed strong and sturdy, but would it hold the pair of them?

Himari tossed all those questions aside, as the possibility of surfing with Tomoe seemed too important to miss. The pair mounted the board and paddled it a bit further out to sea, turning it around to face the shore once they were satisfied with the distance. As Tomoe led, Himari tried her best to keep up and assist.

When Tomoe spotted a wave, she alerted Himari and started paddling away towards the shore. The wave crawled closer behind them, and Tomoe picked up her paddling speed as it approached (Himari’s arms got too tired for her to keep up). When the board was suddenly hit with a burst of speed Tomoe sprang to her feet, offering a spare hand to Himari, who pulled herself up after a few seconds of hesitation.

As the board rode the wave, Tomoe looked straight ahead, keeping her knees bent and using her arms stretched out to her sides for balance. In contrast, Himari kept her legs together, wrapping her arms around Tomoe’s stomach as she clung on for dear life. Tomoe wore a wicked smile on her face, half due to the exhilaration of surfing, the other half due to her girlfriends company.

Himari grew more complacent in her balance as they slowed down, and a sudden movement of the board caused her to tumble into the waters below, taking Tomoe with her. She let go of Tomoe’s waist as she fell but felt Tomoe’s hands on her waist and back as she endeavored to return to the surface. The pair emerged at about the same time, spluttering and breathing heavily.

Despite her body’s need to replenish her oxygen, Himari felt her breath hitch as she realized she was being carried by Tomoe. She looked up into her deep blue eyes, sunlight reflecting off the water droplets on her cheeks. Himari stared with wide eyes and an open mouth as she drank in the view.

“Are you alright Himari?” Tomoe asked urgently. Her tone and face softened quickly as Himari nodded in reply. “You’re staring.” she continued hesitantly.

“I don’t want to forget how you looked just then.” Himari declared. “I want to burn it into my mind forever.”

Tomoe chuckled heartily. “I’m glad to know you’re ok!” Her cheeks intensified into a slight blush. “You’re pretty breathtaking yourself.” She continued softly.

“Can we kiss?” Himari asked, covering her cheeks with her hands to hide her raging blush. Tomoe’s own blush intensified, but she nodded and started slowly lowering her head, pushing her hair out of the way. Himari withdrew her hands, closed her eyes and puckered her lips as she raised her own head to meet Tomoe’s. Her beating heart reached a crescendo as their lips met.

The electric sensation from their lips touching made Himari shudder, but a horrible taste caused her to recoil and pull back. Himari grimaced as her romanticized fantasy of kissing in the sea drifted apart.

“Sorry Tomoe but just… ugh,” Himari covered her face with her hands. “I hate seawater so much.”

“Don’t be sad Himari, so do I.” Tomoe encouraged softly. “Besides, we can always continue it later.”

“You’re right Tomoe~! That scene I saw of the couple kissing in the sea must be overrated! Kissing during a sunset never gets old!” Himari cheered. She moved her hands and placed one on Tomoe’s cheek affectionately, flashing her a million-watt smile. Tomoe replied with a genuine but sheepish smile. She knew how complicated Himari’s romantic fantasies were.

“Hey guys!”

Himari and Tomoe turned towards the direction of the noise. Tsugumi was stood on the shore. Her two hands, which would have been used for applause had the two reached shore, held two towels.

\----------

“Seawater is such a drag Tsugu~!” Himari complained loudly. She had wrapped her pink towel around herself using one hand to secure it, the other hand entwined with Tomoe’s. “Why is the sea so salty anyway?”

Tsugumi chuckled. “I think it has something to do with the weathering of rocks? As in they erode and release salts into the water?”

“That’s such a stupid reason! That could have been such a cool moment!” Himari argued back.

Tomoe stepped in front of Himari and faced Tsugumi, siding with her girlfriend. “I thought seawater was salty for a reason! As in essential for the planet and stuff! Yet it isn’t! I made Himari feel bad, so I’m quite mad too!”

“I think it might be a good idea if we changed the subject! Ummm…” Tsugumi frantically scanned the area around where they had parked their belongings before settling on a sand mound. “I-I’ll show you what I’ve been building!” Tsugumi suggested, pointing towards the pile.

Himari and Tomoe turned to each other and shrugged, the anger they felt now ebbing away. How could they deny Tsugumi?

The sand sculpture in question was close to where Afterglow had placed their things. Moca was building something a few feet away under the shade of an umbrella with Ran supervising closely. Neither of them noticed the trio entering the area.

Tsugumi gestured to the sculpture awkwardly. “This is a sandcastle I’ve been trying to make! We didn’t have any of those small buckets, so I decided to make one from scratch!” Tsugumi explained, before going on to give a brief commentary of her build. She pointed out the quarter of the walls she had constructed, the few windows and other details she had carved into them and the barely started moat around the castle. “I think I would have made more progress had I built it smaller…” she admitted dejectedly.

“Don’t sell yourself short Tsugu~!” Tomoe reassured loudly. “This castle is really ambitious, like the castles people built a long time ago! Those weren’t built in a day!”

“Its amazing Tsugu~!” Himari cheered, grabbing her by the hands. “Is this the castle you and Sayo-san are going to live in?”

Tsugumi scratched the back of her neck as Tomoe looked on in shock. “I-I don’t want to live in a castle with Sayo-san. Hazawa Coffee would be enough for me.”

Tomoe and Himari swooned in unison, grabbing each other’s hands and jumping up and down on the spot. “That’s so pure Tsugu~! Raise your hands if you love Tsugu guys~!”

Both of Himari and Tomoe’s hands shot up. Even Ran and Moca, who had paid no attention to their conversation before, raised their hands.

“Y-you should make a move on Sayo-san!” Himari decided suddenly, raising her fist in an attempt to make it official. “We’ve all got your back!”

“I really appreciate it, but I don’t feel comfortable making a move yet.” Tsugumi rejected sadly. “I’m only going to make my move if she changes the honorific she uses with me.”

Himari and Tomoe looked at each other for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. That could take years.

“I know Tsugu~. I’m sorry for always bringing it up, but you just… deserve it! You’re so hardworking and kind, you deserve a girlfriend more than any of us.” Himari apologized.

“Its ok Himari-chan! I know you don’t mean it badly, and I really appreciate you all looking out for me! So thank you!” Tsugumi reassured graciously, bowing as she did so.

Himari regarded Tsugumi with a genuine smile before looking over her shoulder at Ran and Moca. “Are you guys building something?” she asked, making her way over to them.

“Hii-chan! Moca-chan is honored that you’ve shown interest in her masterpiece in the making~!” Moca exulted, gesturing towards her… sculpture? Himari narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on her chin, but she couldn’t put a finger on what it actually was.

“It looks interesting Moca! What is it?”

“Do you know those ‘nesoberi’ you find in stores around Tokyo? It saddens me everyday to know that there isn’t one of my dear Ran~, so I’m taking it upon myself to build it for them.”

“Oooh!” Himari took another look. It did indeed look like a large nesoberi! She turned to Ran, who was sat on the sand to the side of Moca. “Are you helping out with this?”

A slight blush formed on Ran’s face, but she pushed the embarrassment aside. “I’m the… model. I also give constructive criticism.”

“Me and Ran are going to make this look really pretty~! Do you want to show your model pose Ran~?”

Ran hesitated for a second before sighing to herself and laying on her front in the sand with arms and legs outstretched.

“This is integral for making sure I get the right pose and- “Moca tilted her head at a sudden flurry of footsteps. “Hii-chan?”

Himari had rushed over to her bag to grab her phone. She took a quick picture of the two sand sculptures, and then a picture of Ran. “Just wanted to preserve the moment! Carry on Moca!”

\----------

Himari whined happily as a cool helping of strawberry ice cream graced her taste buds and fell down her throat. “This is so delicious!” she cheered.

Moca gulped another serving of chocolate ice cream down. “Hii-chan’s on her second ice cream.” She announced hyperbolically. “What am I going to do~?”

Himari flashed Moca a confused grin. “Theres no need to be worried Moca!” she reassured, taking another helping of ice cream.

“If Hii-chan keeps going like this, she’s going to eat all the ice cream and there’ll be none left for Moca-chan~!” Moca complained jokily.

“Theres no need to overexaggerate Moca! I’m only eating enough to maintain my huggable figure for Tomoe!”

As if on cue, Tomoe dropped her spoon and walked over to Himari. She placed her arms around her shoulders slowly at first, only fully committing when she knew Himari was ok with the gesture. “You know, your current figure isn’t just for me.” She reassured.

Himari nuzzled her head against Tomoe. “I know that its mostly to help me feel more confident but being hugged by you is a large motivating factor.” she wooed, caressing Tomoe’s hair with a free hand.

The other members of Afterglow watched on contentedly. They had long since gotten used to Himari and Tomoe being lovey-dovey in their presence. Moca turned to Ran, her usual response to this situation involving fighting fire with fire. “Ran~? Can I make a proposition?”

“Sure.” Ran replied quietly, fixing eye contact with Moca.

“You know how Hii-chan and Tomo-chin have their hugging? We should have something too!”

Ran gulped, seemingly on instinct. “I don’t see why not. What did you have in mind?”

“You would be an absolute darling to me if you carried me around everywhere~.” Moca suggested half seriously.

“Not a chance.” Ran shot back sharply.

“Aww. I guess I’ll have to settle for a cuddle then~.” Moca concluded dejectedly. Ran’s hesitation caused her to miss the cue by a few seconds, but eventually her arms were wrapped around Moca’s shoulder as well.

The two groups of lovers spent several minutes focusing on each other before focusing on something else. Tsugumi looked up from happily eating her chocolate ice cream to find 4 sets of eyes staring at her. She regarded them all with a friendly smile.

The four members moved around the table at lighting speed to wrap their arms around Tsugumi.

Himari wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I’m sorry we aren’t paying attention to you Tsugu~!”

Tomoe entwined her arms around her waist. “We appreciate you Tsugu~!”

Ran moved opposite Himari, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. “We didn’t mean to leave you out Tsugumi.”

Moca moved in the fill the gap, shocked at how fast Ran moved. “We’re a Tsugu appreciation squad first, band second, Moca stanners third.”

It took Tsugumi a while to get used to all the hands around her, but eventually she got comfortable and leaned against Himari, giving them all a gracious smile.

“Oh! Everyone hold this pose a second!” Himari pulled out her phone and snapped a group selfie in a few seconds, leaving the other group members baffled as to where she was keeping her phone.

\----------

The members of Afterglow remained on the beach until sunset, playing around and enjoying each other’s company. While the other members were watching the sunset together, Himari was distracted with her phone.

She had snatched a picture of the group watching the sunset after taking a picture of the sun itself, but now she was sorting through the other photos she had taken during the day. The photos of Ran and the sand sculptures, the group hug with Tsugumi, reapplying Moca’s sun-cream, Himari’s first tan, winning her first game of shiritori in over a year, reapplying Moca’s sun-cream, countless pictures of Tomoe posing, countless pictures of her and Tomoe posing, reapplying Moca’s sun cream, Ran writing poetry on the sand, Tsugumi posing with her finished castle, reapplying Moca’s sun-cream as she posed with her Ran ‘nesoberi’.

Himari felt tears of joy slip down her cheeks as she selected all the images and sent them to the other members, causing their phones to rise up in a symphony of notifications beside them.

She turned to Tomoe, who turned to meet her gaze a few seconds later. She flashed Himari a loving smile which made her short circuit. There was only one thing she wanted now, and her heart started thundering in anticipation as Tomoe drew closer. Himari closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

When the pairs lips finally met, Himari shuddered at the familiarity of taste, the scent of pork ramen and chocolate. She wrapped her arms around her and leaned into her, kissing her passionately as the sun lowered itself beyond the horizon.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for Kira Kira Writings Sparkling Summer Send Off event! The prompt for this fic is 'Beach'. I would also like to apologise for any lapse in quality, though that implies I write quality in the first place. I have just made a return to student accommodation, which is taking some getting used to. I was particularly stressed about something during the writing of the early part of this fic, so that up to the end of the surfing section are probably the worst affected. I apologise for that and I hope I can get used to it soon!
> 
> This fic was born from the realisation that Afterglow didn't go to the beach in their summer event, they went to Toconut Park instead. Himari got denied again, and I decided to fix that slight. A lot of this fic is very self indulgent on what I want Afterglow's dynamic to be, particularly around Himari. A place where she doesn't have to worry being teased or stressing about her weight, and one where she is more respected and appreciated as the group leader. I also focused a bit on Tsugumi, making her feel as appreciated as possible. I hope none of these changes were out of character, intrusive or disrespectful and I apologise if they are.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! If you have any comments or feedback feel free to leave it here!
> 
> I hope you have a good rest of your day, and I wish you the best in staying safe!


End file.
